ITT You help come up w/ reasons to buy laptop for college

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Jan 30, 2003
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Hello everyone,
Right now, I have a SFF desktop computer (2.53ghz P4, 9500P, 512mb PC2700, 160gb WDSE, blahblahblah) and a couple of CRTs (15" old and 19" flat). I leave for college August 20 for orientation (wooooooooo CORNELL! :p) Anyway, I really want to bring a laptop to school in addition to my desktop. Right now, I'm thinking that if I just take what I have now, I would leave both CRTs and buy and LCD for ~$400. However, for ~$1000 I can buy a decent notebook computer, something that seems like it could be a better investment. If I did that, I would bring the laptop and the desktop w/ current 19" (which I would also use as a television, rather than bringing separate tv).

What I really need are reasons to buy the laptop. I have a few of my own (besides just pure tech-desire :D) but I want to see if anyone can come up with some that I missed for when I need to justify purchase to parents (who are paying my tuition, and thus, have a justifiable iron grip over my finances).

Cliffs:
1. have desktop computer of decent quality
2. want to buy laptop anyway
3. want reasons to justify purchase

thanks :)
 
get an IBM t41/42.

as for justification, so you can take notes in class since you "type 5x faster than you write" ;)
 
Portability...might be nice to be able work on stuff outside of your dorm room. Library, cafe, ihop....wherever...
 
omega-x said:
get an IBM t41/42.

as for justification, so you can take notes in class since you "type 5x faster than you write" ;)

ibm's are way out of my budget :(

that reason's a good one, it's on the list :)
 
what if your roommate sucks and you want to go to the library to type up a paper? what if you want to sit on your bed and not in front of a desk to do your work? also, good for powerpoint presentations and overall portability. hope i helped :p
 
i have used dells, HP, IBM, gateway, and toshiba laptops, and i thing that the toshis are the best buy for the money. and you can get a good one for ~1200 usd, things to look for in a laptop, btry life! a mobile chip (any type) and a real video card, like the nvidia fx go, or the ati 9x00 mobile. try not to get one with shared ram, and the more ram the better. built in wireless is good, most colleges have wireless conectivity for the students, look at what they recomend for a wireless card/type. plus a good laptop, with decent typing skills and MS one note, are great for note taking in class, and if you print out a hard copy it is easier to read :D hope this helps some.
 
If you want a laptop that's basically in anyone's price range and don't mind giving up power for battery life while getting a magnesium case and good screen at just over 3lbs and under an inch thick, seriously consider Toshiba's Portege 3480ct or 3490ct. Can be had for like $450 for a 3490 or $300 for a 3480 on ebay. Has either PIII 600 or 700 (3490), 11.3" XGA polysilicon TFT, Savage IX 8MB, max of 192MB (3480) or 256MB (3490) RAM, 12GB HDD stock but will take everything) and a battery life of over three hours bumped to eight(!) with the battery slice you can pop on bottom that sells for like $60.

The build quality on these is unmatched. They take punishment. And if you do manage to find a nuke to take it out, they're cheap!
 
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